Thursday, May 29, 2014

One of the disadvantages of using social networking, this year, is I get to see how many of you are already done with school or are only a day or two away from the end. It's nice to know that some of you are in the same boat as me, or have even longer before you're done with school.

Working in two different districts has it's challenges and one of them is the end of the year. I work in one district that is always done with school before the other. This year, one of my schools is done on June 5 and the other isn't done until June 11. It makes it tricky for teaching. I have to find ways to wind down at both schools, but I have to do it at different times.

One of the things I always do at the end of the school year (thanks to my wonderful cooperating teacher) is Campfire Songs Week. The last full week of school I always have students come into class and make a circle while we sing all sorts of silly and fun songs that you would learn around a campfire or at a camp. These songs soon become favorites of my students and they ask me by December, "When are we going to sing those silly songs?"

This year, I started putting together a powerpoint presentation with all of the song lyrics for the songs we sing. This way it can help me save my voice a little bit, because students can see the lyrics themselves. (They often already know the melodies, since they sing the songs every year, but they don't always know the words.) There are so many great campfire songs, so each year I put together different songs with a mix of student favorites and new camp songs I know they will enjoy.

My first presentation of Campfire Songs is available at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. People seemed to enjoy it so much, I am in the process of creating a Campfire Songs, Vol. 2. Each Campfire Songs Volume comes with 15 songs that have written lyrics, lyrics with chords, standard notation, plus blank slides which allow you to change the lyrics to the version you sing.

Here is a preview of what you will see
(Click the images to buy the file yourself!)

What are some of your traditions for the end of the year? I'd love to know in the comment section!

Monday, May 12, 2014

I plan on linking up to Amy Abbot's linky party about surviving the end of the school year, but I'm going to need another day or two before I'm ready to link up. You can check out some of the people who have already linked up by clicking the picture below:

In the meantime I wanted to quickly let you all know that tomorrow is our second $2 Tuesday Flash Sale! You can find a bunch of fun music resources for just $2 by searching $2TuesdayMusicFlashSale on Teachers Pay Teachers.

My item that is marked down to $2 is one of my newer files:

This would a great way to assess or review so and mi before the end of the school year. My students love coloring these and you could even send them home with students to practice at home!

Monday, May 5, 2014

I've been planning to link up to this party all day, but I've been busy working on more products. I have been out of town all weekend, so tonight was the first free minute I've had since last weekend! Yikes!

If you are interested in linking up to this party too, just click the picture above!

This is a great time to get your wishlist together for the big Teachers Pay Teacher's Sale from 5/6-5/7!

1) A must-have I've created
I have several and one I would say is definitely my Music Street file. Especially the manipulatives. These are great for cutting and laminating. It helps my students that are hands on learners.

Everything in this file comes in black and white and color! :)

I'm currently working on updating this EVEN MORE in the next few weeks.

I also love all my song files. They are greatly paired with my music street, but also work on their own! Each file I have puts Music Street right in it. I also add different interactive games or activities at the end to assess your students knowledge. Here are some pictures of different song files in my shop. Click the picture to go to the product in my store:

2) A must-have I've gotten from another teacher
One of my favorite things right now is the Lines and Spaces Worksheet bundle I purchased from Lindsay Jervis. I'm currently using this with my Kinders and they just love it. Check it out by clicking the picture below:

3) A must-have that I'd like to have
I kind of have a clip art addiction, so it is difficult to pick. However here are some pictures of clip art I would really love to buy during this sale. Click the pictures to check out the actual product:

I'm still planning on updating my Teacher's Pay Teacher's Store regularly, but I'm adding everything I create to my Teacher's Notebook store, as well. They are both great places to shop for school supplies and resources. They both have some great pros and cons as both sellers and buyers that I would love to highlight, but will have to do at another time.

For now, take a glance at my newest store where I have uploaded about half of my stock. If you see anything you like it will all be 20% to 30% off until Friday at midnight!

Let all your friends now and stock up for the end of the school year or the beginning of next school year. :-D